Building a Resilient Europe: Highlights from the CERIS Disaster Resilience Days 2025

From 6 to 8 October 2025, Athens became a hub for disaster resilience innovation and collaboration. The conference brought together over 250 experts, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from across Europe and beyond.

Organised under the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS), the event showcased Europe’s ongoing efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness, resilience, and cross-sectoral cooperation. As this CERIS event took place in Athens, many local and regional authorities from the region of Attica and from all over Greece participated actively in the discussions. The three-day conference featured keynote interventions from the European Commission, high-ranking representatives of the Hellenic authorities, and international partners, as well as interactive foresight exercises, and live demonstrations of cutting-edge EU-funded projects.

A particular highlight was the keynote address by Dr Lori Moore-Merrell, former US Fire Administrator appointed by President Biden (2020-2025), who shared first-hand experience from the Los Angeles wildfires and reflected on the growing global fire crisis, underlining the urgent need for international cooperation, data-driven risk management, and the integration of technology in first responder systems.

Further key highlights included:

• HOME together with JRC conducted a large-scale foresight exercise on the first day (“DRS 2035”) enabling participants to explore future scenarios for disaster management, identify capability gaps, and co-develop a European DRS capability framework.
• Live Demonstrations: Cutting-edge EU-funded projects and technologies were showcased through live demonstrations, illustrating practical applications of EU-funded research outcomes in disaster resilience.
• The Hellenic Ministry of Development and Investment and the Region of Attica presented progress towards a national “community of users”, linking European-level research to local implementation.
• The DIREKTION Awards Ceremony celebrated innovative solutions addressing first responder capability gaps, promoting visibility and uptake of results across Member States. The awards recognised 10 innovative start-ups with concrete solutions to prevent disasters coming from security research funding.
• DG HOME presented its work towards an EU Critical Communication System, reinforcing the role of secure, interoperable networks in crisis response.

The Disaster Resilience Days 2025 concluded with a call to action for continued collaboration, innovation, and resilience-building efforts, reinforcing the EU’s role as a global leader in disaster preparedness and response.